The Lowdown: Business Etiquette - India

The "must have" top tips guide to doing business in India. We live and work in a global market - and knowing how to behave with courtesy in other countries allows us to make a great impression and maximise our potential. India plays a prominent role in the world of commerce. This guide is a quick and easy teach-in for people who want to trade with India and who want to put their best foot forward while they're there.

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Publisher's Summary

The "must have" top tips guide to doing business in India.

We live and work in a global market - and knowing how to behave with courtesy in other countries allows us to make a great impression and maximise our potential. India plays a prominent role in the world of commerce. This guide is a quick and easy teach-in for people who want to trade with India and who want to put their best foot forward while they're there.

It will give you inside information on doing business and tips for coping with business socialising. It will point out important rules to follow in order to ensure that everything runs smoothly. It will help you to make the most of your business trip to this fascinating and beautiful country and to clinch that all important deal.

Topics Covered Include: Making initial contact and planning your trip How to navigate your first business meeting - what to do and what NOT to do! The best way of setting up a deal How to avoid a disadvantageous deal Coping with Indian currency Important differences in accounting Dining out and table etiquette How to behave at a religious ceremony

This audiobook is a brilliant introduction to anyone starting business negotiations in India. It is written and narrated clearly and accessibly, in a question and answer format which takes the listener through almost any scenario you would be likely to find yourself in. From initial contact via email, phone or fax (mail is unreliable!), to written and spoken language, business practice and socialising with business colleagues - right down to differences between cities and how to behave at religious festivals. Michael Barnard is obviously writing from in depth personal experience and answers all the questions you could think of, and those that hadn't occurred to you, prior to starting a commercial relationship in this complex and fascinating country. Don't leave on your business trip to India without having listened to The Lowdown.

This is an excellent introduction to commercial manners in India with clear explanations of their confusing monetary system (how they divide up rupees into crores and lakhs) and great advice on how to relate to a client or supplier when doing deals. Strong on the social side as well (etiquette when being entertained, etc)and definitely worth listening to before taking a business trip.

This is essential reading for anyone who is new to doing business in India and, at the same time, is full of useful details that might have escaped the notice of old India hands. It is written by someone who has extensive experience of working in India and is highly successful in his company's business.

The insights contained here are both general and particular. Immediate attention is drawn to religious, cultural and social differences between western countries and the sub-continent; these differences business people must be aware of. The necessity of cultivating patience and pursuing personal contacts is stressed. When it comes to the basic tasks of communication, electronic means are paramount. The postal service is unreliable: e-mail is the preferred way of communication. The author advises on the detail of forms of address and shows differences of approach between Anglo-American styles and the more polite Indian forms.

In a country where there are at least 29 various languages spoken, English is the lingua franca for business. The excellent, invaluable advice that is given here should encourage and make easy new business enterprises in India.

An extraordinarily helpful guide in developing our plans for further business in India - and I'm sure it will also very helpful to who already have existing business relations in the country but wish to improve and expand their knowledge of Indian business methods and customs. The book presents its advice clearly and logically and helps remove much of the mystique of doing business in India while, clearly, illustrating the author's respect and admiration of the people of that country. In summary, an invaluable help and guide with respect to both business etiquette and social niceties which I would thoroughly recommend.

Give Michael Barnard 54 minutes, and he'll give you India - certainly the bits of knowledge you have to have, and have right away. This enormous wealth of critical information is presented in an extremely digestible, even entertaining, format. As a lively, incisive dialogue, it is more like listening to a 'cultural language book on tape' than a straight audiobook. From currency and transport and body language, to deal negotiation and business practices and legal contracts, this is a perfect balance of advice between commercial and social behaviour, i.e. cultural sensitivities and business tactics. It's like spending an intense and lively hour with an absolute expert - one who is savvy, energetic, supportive, massively well-informed, and has clearly learned many invaluable lessons. Do yourself a favour and get the Lowdown before you do business in India. It will pay you back many times over in confidence, safety, foresight - and business success.

UK dealings with off-shore information technology companies based in India have increased in recent years specifically for the support of core business critical systems. This ?outsourcing? trend is set to continue as companies seek out cost savings and resource efficiencies as the current recession deepens and alternative options become limited. From my own experience of working with ?onshore? and ?offshore? management teams from India - for all of those IT technicians, managers and people charged with realising the benefits - I would wholeheartedly recommend The Lowdown: Business Etiquette ? India by Michael Barnard, an audiobook from audible.co.uk. It is a focussed 54 minutes well spent in listening to advice in the form of structured responses to questions which could ultimately mean the difference between a well formed contract for services or an unmitigated disaster for those ?novices? who refuse to take the time to understand the basic differences in business and social behavioural styles. The checklist at the end of the audiobook of the do?s and don?ts is a concise, invaluable reminder for those with limited time but who have previous experience of conducting business in India.

The author of this book has obviously had extensive business and social contact within India. It delivers exactly as the title suggests with an invaluable guide to all aspects of business and social etiquette. It is essential reading for all those looking to do business in India.

Michael Barnard's audio book, 'The Lowdown: Business Etiquette - India', is just what I need for my forthcoming visit to India, which will be part social, part business. I was very excited to discover this title, which seems to provide answers to all of the questions I have had relating to how I should approach my Indian colleagues, how to conduct my social and business dealings prior to my visit and how to pursue these interests whilst I am there. I am very hopeful that this preparation will pave the way for mutually beneficial relationships in the future with my existing contacts in India and with those who I shall no doubt meet whilst I am there.

I have found this title immensely useful and cannot recommend it highly enough to others who wish to acquire some understanding of conducting business relationships in India, from someone who obviously has invaluable experience in this field.

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